


They Fall Asleep and Dream

by NightTriumphant17



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 4500 words, Character Death, First Dates, Green Goblin - Freeform, M/M, Oneshot, Violence, Wizarding Wars (Harry Potter), Wizarding World (Harry Potter), background checks, very descriptive death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:22:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29683917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightTriumphant17/pseuds/NightTriumphant17
Summary: Tony falls asleep, dreaming of black hair against a pale face, and flashes of emerald eyes practically glowing despite their dark undertones.-----Harry falls asleep, dreaming of brown hair curling out from withing a red and gold gleaming helmet, chocolate eyes warm despite the cocky smile on his face.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 109





	They Fall Asleep and Dream

The first time they met was, as cliche as it sounds, at a club. Lights flickered, speakers pounded with the strength of their volume, and the overwhelming smell of alcohol and sweat lingered in the air. At the center of the writhing, cheering, mass was 25 year-old Tony Stark, slipping easily towards the bar and through the mob despite the scantily clad girls hanging off either arm. As he took a seat on one of the rickety barstools, his drunken gaze flickering over the crowd, he met eyes of shimmering green. They were so full of amusement and light, though he could clearly see the immense pain lurking in the depths. He blinked, and the strange man was gone.

All he would remember the next morning, after waking up in a cheap hotel room with a busty blonde lying naked next to him, was messy black hair hanging above startling emerald eyes. In later months his mind would sometimes drift, wondering what could have happened to make him so sad. He didn't see the stranger again until the hazy memories had long faded into the back of his mind.

_ Stark Expo _

All Tony could see was glints of metal and the flashes that signalled someone had fired. He found it hard to tell if the bullets flying were his, Rhodey’s, or one of the Hammer Drones. The suit was moving on autopilot, JARVIS working overtime to handle damage while still taking down any hostile that got in the way.

He was brought back into awareness by a notice in front of face showing a human signal had been picked up. Spinning around in midair, he flew straight towards the small child standing with his Iron Man helmet on and the fake repulsor glove pointing straight at his impending doom. Just as Tony realized that he was too far away, a tall man sprinted across the debris-ridden field and picked the child up. One second later, faster than he could comprehend, the man was holding the child while pointing a stick at the Hammer Drone. The same Hammer Drone that was now blown to bits.

The stranger, who was now sprinting to the exit under him, looked up at his face. Tony sucked in a breath as he was hit with a flash of sensations.  _ Dim lights, loud noise, green and black. _

Then it was gone, as fast as it had come. Green-eye man shouted something he couldn't hear through the screams and crashes, but the message was clear enough.  _ “Go!” _ So he went. 

Long after the adrenaline of the fight had run out, he lay exhausted on his sofa looking over feeds. He had told Pepper, who had asked why he was still staring at one clip, that he had been so scared he couldn't help that kid. That was true, but it wasn't the kid he was staring at. 

The person, who he had such clear memories of, looked so  _ strong _ . He stood tall in the face of danger, didn't even hesitate to put himself in danger for others, and had made sure everyone got out before he did. Tony had spent an hour watching clips from around the plaza of him running into danger willingly for others sake. He was a true hero, one Tony would try to be as best as he could. 

It was only as he was drifting off to sleep later that he realized two things. He didn't know the man’s name, and that Drone had certainly not destroyed itself. Oh well.

**_He falls asleep and dreams of green and black._ **

_ 5 months later, Monaco Grand Prix (I’m aware the timeline is messed up, but I’m doing events how I want them. The avengers movie is a long, long way off) _

Tony drove his blue and white car down the track, swerving and making sharp turns. This was his way of stress relief, and he was enjoying it. No matter how long Pepper would spend yelling at him later.

He twisted around another corner, passing a neon green car. His eyes widened with horror as he quickly took in the scene in front of him. A man was standing in the center of the track, a car on fire and in pieces behind him, and  _ that was his arc reactor, wasn't it? _

That was all he had time to process before he realized how much danger he was in. Grabbing desperately at the wheel, he tried to yank it to the side. No luck.  _ His wheel was stuck- _

Right before the glowing whip came down on the car, his honey honey brown gaze meeting green. His last comprehensive thoughts were  _ “again?” _ before he was thrown through the air. 

  * \- - - - - -



Harry blamed the Potter luck. It was  _ always _ the Potter luck. How else could he have met this man, this extremely handsome man, in all these terrible situations? That was just the way things happened around him. Fate gave him something he liked, and then tossed it through trial after trial until it died or stayed away for him. He was, after all, fate’s personal chew toy. Honestly, he should have gotten used to it at this point.

Now, he’s watching this man, completely unprotected, fight a villian armed with a weapon that seems to be powered by the very thing keeping Stark alive. Every instinct he has is screaming at him to  _ do something, help Stark. _

How could he possibly be so attached to someone he’s never even talked to? He didn't know, but he would not just stand by and watch. So he pulled his wand and crouched by the barrier of the stands, out of sight, and pulled out the cloak and wand. Yes,  _ those  _ cloak and wand. He pulled the silvery fabric over his head and stuck the wand through a crack. With a hissed “ _ expelliarmus!”  _ one of the electric arm-things pulls out of the attacker’s hand, flying across the track to land on one of the wrecked cars. It stops sparking slowly.

Harry can only watch as Stark is handed a suitcase by a lady with ginger hair,  _ so similar to Ginny,  _ and the suit that he’s seen so many times on the TV forms around him while whip-guy recovers from the strong yank that ripped off one arm brace. 

Things are smooth after that. Stark beats the guy up, the idiot not even getting a chance to monologue before he’s lying amongst the flaming debris, unconscious. He’s tempted to stand and applaud, but there are cameras everywhere and it wouldn’t make sense if someone just appeared in an obvious space.

Standing amongst the journalists and their cameras, all looking for a scoop, he watches as the man, his orange jumpsuit tattered, is dragged over to a reinforced police

van. He follows Stark with his eyes, the man seeming to do his best not to limp, as he walks over the black car pulling up. Just as the shorter man, his height painfully obvious with tall people flanking him on both sides, steps into the clear space of ten feet around his vehicle, one particularly radbid reporter attempts to jump out and smash her microphone in his face. She reminds Harry of another person he once knew, one certain bug-like woman who was willing to do anything for a piece of gossip. He sticks his arm in front of her chest, refusing to allow her past. As she twists around to snarl at him, Harry’s eyes meet Tony’s. Soft brown against whirling green, and Harry gives him a small simile. His grin widens as Stark smiles back and swings his leg into the vehicle. 

After the door closes behind him, and the vehicle begins to drive off, He takes a moment to think of the fact that the smile he just saw was not the cocky grin constantly plastered across newspapers, magazines, and Television networks. It was small, but soft either way. Full of warmth normal people would never show to someone they haven't gotten to know. Then again, the two of them have never been normal.

Laying in bed that night, in a position mirroring the other man’s in his own room, he thinks. They are kindred spirits of sorts, both pushed into fame at a young age for events they had no control over. He feels a small happiness form in his heart, something he hasn’t felt since the war ended. 

**_He falls asleep and dreams of red and gold._ **

  * \- - - - - - 



_ Stark Tower, three weeks later _

He’s done it. Tony has finally put a name to a face. He should not be this thrilled, they’ve never even talked, and have only seen each other twice. The first doesn't count, he was completely and utterly smashed at the time. Yet, even despite the lack of knowledge on this stranger, he’s filled with joy. Pepper walks in on him staring at the screen that has his-  _ Harry’s _ , information displayed on it. She’s obviously confused, but does not question it when he begins hacking into the SHIELD database to get even more details. That’s why he loves Pepper so much.

His other assistant, Natilie Rushman, stares at his screen for a few long minutes with an unreadable expression before leaving the room. He’s not aware of it, but she’s gone to make a phone call about him. Harry is now being thoroughly background checked. 

He wakes up in the morning and makes a decision. He wants to talk to this strange man that is somehow melting his ice-cold heart. “JARVIS, locate Harry Potter.”

First, he’s going to need a disguise. Can’t have the press recognizing him, after all.

  * \- - - - - -



Harry just happened to be taking a walk past the tower when a man exited the shiny glass door leading to the lobby. He wouldn't think anything of it, normally, but he just happens to glance up in time to meet a pair of eyes.  _ Brown _ eyes. Again. He sighs, changing his path so he’s walking towards Stark. The other man grins, seeming unbothered by the fact that the only thing keeping him from being swarmed by the media was a shabby baseball cap and normal clothes. That, and the lack of cocky energy that he normally gives off in public.

He’s reached Stark’s side, flicking his hand enough to send his holly wand directly into his fingers. One more flick has strong Notice-me-not and silencing wards going up, and a tap on a short shoulder guarantees that no one will recognize either of them.

He gives the billionaire a small smile, waiting for him to speak.

Stark actually  _ stutters. _ The confident, brash man is obviously not there in the moment. Harry is suddenly acutely aware of the fact that this is a side of him every person will ever see. 

“I was curious about the mystery man who keeps showing up and saving people every time I’m in trouble.”

He grins, looking at the man in front of him. “It’s probably more like you show up everywhere I’m trying to relax and somehow get into a fight that requires my help.”

“You don't have to save them, you know,” he says softly, “why?” 

Both realize that they are still standing in the center of the sidewalk, despite the fact that people are subconsciously moving around them. Harry sighs, and suggests “Coffee? We can resume this after, but we are blocking pedestrian traffic.”

Stark eyes him, seeing unconvinced that he isn't trying to weasel out of what will likely be a difficult conversation. “Fine, but we’re talking after.”

Harry sighs, that’s what he expected. “I know a place.”

He pretends not to notice the fact that Stark looks perfectly happy walking off with a stranger he just met. And his friends said  _ he _ had issues with self preservation.

  * \- - - - - -



They both exit the cafe with their own coffees, after a series of issues around the fact that Harry forgot to take down the notice-me-not. He ended up having to undo most of their protections, and focus them on Stark. That created even  _ more _ problems when he tried to order.

Now they are on their way to Central Park, hoping to find a bench. It’s a nice day out, with fluffy white clouds and a warm breeze. Stark is laughing about how badly the waitress butchered his name. Really,  _ haroldy.  _ Just because Tony had tried to say his name at the same time. Since no one registered his presence, they had just assumed that the voice came from Harry. 

The pair come to a wooden bench overlooking the small pond, and sit after shooing the pigeons away. Stark seems so content at sitting in companionable silence, that Harry decides to stay quiet. He’s startled when the other man talks.

“So, about that question earlier,  _ why?  _ Why risk yourself to save others when there was a known hero there to do it for you?”

He seems so honestly confused Harry can’t help but laugh. “I have a, uh,  _ saving people thing. _ ”

Those brown eyes stare at him, incredulous. “That’s it?”

He shakes his head. “Nope, not all of it. I helped you because I know first hand that  _ the heros can’t always save everyone.” _

“Huh. May I ask how, exactly you know first hand? If it’s something easy for you to tell, that is.”

Harry’s surprised. Most of the time, people pester him for details and don’t let up. He’s never really had the choice. He stays quiet for a moment, thinking. Does he want to share his story? It’s been his secret, his burden, for so long that it  _ would  _ feel good to get off his chest. On the other hand, he would be breaking very many rules. He decides to tell his story anyway. It gives him a chance to honor his friends.

He takes a deep breath to start. “I want you to know that I am breaking a lot of laws by telling you this.”

Stark’s eyes widen, and he opens his mouth to apologize.

“I still want to tell you. The government can piss off.”

This seems to relax him a but. Good to know dissing the government is something he enjoys. They have a shared hobby now.

“I come from a world of wizards and witches, located in a hidden society deep in the heart of London. In there, like every other place in the world, there are villains and heroes. Prejudice and activists. One of these villains was a twisted man called Lord Voldemort. He was born Tom Marvelo Riddle, and had started a political group called the Knights of Walpurgis. But, like those with power, he was scared of it ending too soon. He became obsessed with his quest for immortality. Tom split his soul, his very core, into pieces. Trapped them in containers called ‘horcruxes’. After hiding them, in places only he knew, he declared himself a Dark Lord. His followers were called the Death Eaters. They lead a reign of terror, striking fear into those who dared to oppose them.”

Tony is staring at him in shock. It makes sense, considering that he was just exposed to a hidden society based on something that doesn't make any sense.

“At the center if it all was Albus too-many-middle-names Dumbledore, leader of the light and defeater of the Dark Lord Grindelwald. At the time, he was the only one who could say Voldie’s name without flinching. The only one the Dark Lord was actually afraid of.

“Then, there was a prophecy. Spoken by Sybil Trewlawny during a job interview for the divination professor at Hogwarts, the school that Tom Riddle had attended and Dumbledore was the headmaster of. It was overheard by Severus Snape, a Death Eater. Snape went straight to Voldemort, figuring that if he begged hard enough he friend would be spared. That friend was called Lily Potter, and her child had just been born at 11:59, July 31st. The Potters, Lily and James, had defied the Dark Lord three times, but so had another family, the Longbottoms. Their child was born only a few minutes before the Potter child. That child was named Harry James Potter.”

He’s almost crying, repeating those words he has long since memorized. “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…”

“He couldn't stand the thought of someone stronger than him. On Halloween, October 31st, he walked into a small house in Godric’s hollow and killed Lily and James. My mum and dad. However, when he turned his wand on me, an ancient spell cast by Lily used her sacrifice and love to reflect the curse. The Dark Lord was vaporised, his spirit being forced to wander until someone could resurrect him. He didn't know that he created the world’s first accidental horcrux, by putting a sliver of his soul into my forehead.” Harry brushed his hair aside, showing the faded lightning bolt that brought him so much trouble.

“After being orphaned, the great Albus Dumbledore thought it would be a great idea to leave me on my magic-hating relitive’s doorstep. In the cold, at midnight. With nothing more than a note. I wasn't even noticed until my Aunt went outside to pick up the milk. Yes, as much as I care for the man I still hate that.

“I was brought up horribly, often called a freak by people who witnessed my accidental magic. I was beaten and starved, denyed affection and forced to dumb my self down so I wouldn’t be better than my cousin Dudley.

“I learned about magic after a man broke into the hut in the middle of the sea we were staying at to avoid the thousands of letters being dumped into our house. He informed me that he knew my parents and that they were not, in fact, prostitutes and that they are hailed as war heroes. That was a huge shock.

“I spent seven years constantly being praised one moment and then brutally slandered the next. Kind of like you, actually. Every year things got progressively worse, and Voldemort was revived in my fourth year after I was entered into a tournament for experienced and older kids against my will. I watched my latest friend, Cedric Diggory, as he was killed in front of me. I couldn't do anything.

“Then, to make matters worse, the  _ next _ year, after being beaten and starved again over the summer, my innocent and still not cleared escaped convict godfather was killed in a trap set up in the department where the prophecy was stored.  _ Voldemort killed SIrius to get that stupid glass orb. _

“Then I learned that Severus Snape, who started spying for the light after Lily was killed instead of being spared like he had asked, had a decent reason for hating my father. He was an arrogant bully. 

“Seventh year was the absolute worst.” At this, he stopped and lifted his cup to his mouth with shaky hands. “Voldemort took over Hogwarts. Students were tortured in class, and a defence group I had started was the only resistance they had. A defence group made up of  _ children, _ fighting against trained killers. This whole time I was living in horrible conditions with my best mates, hunting to find the vessels housing Voldemort’s soul and destroy them. We got most of them, all except his pet snake and me. 

“We came back for the final battle, but not in time to save everyone. Voldie made an announcement that he would spare the students of I walked willingly to my death.”

Wide brown eyes stared at Harry in horror. “You didn't, right? You’re still alive!”

Harry smiled sadly. “My  _ saving people thing _ made me do it. I walked into a clearing and was struck with the same curse I had survived as a child. This time I spent a few minutes talking to my dead mentor who had known my entire life that I had to die. I was, understandably, furious. I chose to return to life and kill Voldemort.

“My mate Nevile killed the snake horcrux with a magic sword covered in the deadliest substance in the world, which I had survived in second year. I finally put an end to the Dark Lord in an anticlimactic ending involving a disarming charm and a wand that didn't work properly for Voldemort.

“That was just my school years. I went back to Hogwarts for my eighth year, and slowly the press got worse and worse until everyone, with the exception of the friends who stuck by me throughout the entire mess, believed I was the next Dark Lord. So I left, and have started my new life here in America. I work in a library, now.”

Tony stares at me. “Ok then, that sucks. I’m not going to pretend that everything is alright now, as it obviously isn't the kind of thing you get over in a few years, but I’m here now. I’ll do my best to make sure it never happens again.

They meet each other's eyes in silence, just taking everything in.”Thank you,” Harry says, “I really appreciate it.”

The shorter man stands, stretching his arms out above his head and then tossing his empty cup into the metal can beside him. “Come back to the tower with me,” he says “I want you to meet someone.”

Harry’s face splits into a grin, and he downs the rest of his coffee. “Sure, why not.”

He leaves the tower that day full of joy and peace, knowing that he has two new friends, red and brown haired, just like he used to. 

He falls asleep, the nightmares that normally haunt him in the dark leaving him alone for the night.

\- - - - - - - - - 

Two years later, Tony and Harry are married. It was a very small ceremony, with only Pepper, Happy, and Rodhey there to witness it. On each of their fingers was a small band, silver with a shiny green gemstone on it. Carved into the inside were the words  _ dilexit semper,  _ always loved. On Harry's hand a thick gold band with a red ruby gleamed, the same words on his husband’s ring etched into his own.

Their honeymoon was a small trip to the American magical market, Tony gaping at every little thing and having a small crisis about the amount of scientific laws that were being broken with such ease.

The terrors that usually haunted their dreams faded away slowly, the warmth of each other driving away the cold of the night. Business at Stark Industries was better than ever, and Harry still hadn't been exposed to the press.

Everything was going fine, until it wasn't.

In the typical fashion of Potter- well, Potter-Stark now, luck, it was a perfectly normal day until it all came crashing down. Quite literally, as the cafe they were enjoying their one year anniversary in was rocked violently as the green goblin came flying down the street hurling bombs at any shop he could. Harry had been sitting by the window, and only his battle-hardened reflexes saved him from being killed right then. He was up immediately, helping Tony get people out of the wreckage that had one been their favorite coffee shop and out the back door. 

Once every civilian was evacuated, Tony ran outside and called the suit as Harry pulled the cloak over his shoulders. Palming both of his wands, the Elder and Holly, he sprinted after the red-and-gold blur that was hurtling down the street, following the path of wreckage and destruction that had been left behind.

He arrived in a small clearing covered in rubble. The only sign of fighting visible through the dust is the beams of blue and occasional explosions. He quickly cast a bubble head charm and dived right into the fray, wordlessly casting spell after spell with precise accuracy. They were small things, designed to not be noticed in the aftermath of the fight. Shifting a bomb’s trajectory so it hit a wall instead of a support column, he took in their opponent. Uglier than Voldie, the lizard-like man is sitting on a hoverboard shaped like a bat and chucking bombs shaped like pumpkins. Practically Halloween themed.

They make quick work of the villian, with a couple of “ _ expelliarmus!’s”  _ And repulsor beams. After casting an  _ “incarneous!”  _ he lies down and pretends he was a random person who got caught up in the accident. The smoke clears to show Tony, in his Iron Man suit, helping a battered Harry up. It’s the perfect picture of a hero saving a victim, and the press that has gathered eats it up. Harry is ushered into an ambulance for a check-up, but he sends a text to Tony saying he’ll meet him later. 

The ambulance makes it four streets away from the site before Green Goblin escapes the police car behind them and lobs a bomb in their direction. It soars through the air, and Harry can see in perfect clarity as it arcs directly at them. The world goes white, and everything  _ hurts- _

Then Tony’s face comes into view and hes crying, begging him to stay awake. The words sound like they’re floating through water, muffled and cutting out. He knows that he’s going to die, now, and he reaches up to brush a tear away from his beloved’s face. 

Lifting his hand away and holding it up is quite possibly the most painful thing he’s ever done, but he gets it done. Harry knows that Tony will need something to ground him from the loss. In his hand, forming from golden light, a necklace appears in his palm. 

The silver chain pools in the creases, framing the pendant in a sea of metal. The pendant itself is a masterpiece of gold, finely wrought antlers wrapping around an ice blue gem with a green center. He manages a small smile at the shocked look on his husband’s face, reveling in the fact that he just completed an incredibly difficult piece of magic before he’s slipping away.

_ The darkness tugs him back from the sunlight sky he just fell away from, whispering just like the Veil from the Department of Mysteries did long ago. Everything feels quiet, and them everything S T O P S- _

**_He falls asleep for the last time, dreaming of red and gold and black._ **

  
  


  * \- - - - - - - - 



Tony lies dying, under the horrible sky on Titan. He wonders if this was what Harry felt- the seeping cold, gentle sadness, but peaceful calm.

He’s sad at the thought of leaving Peter alone, as he’s come to think of the spiderling as his son, but it’s his time. Time to meet Harry once more. The darkness gets closer and closer, tugging at the edges of his vision, and he finds his hand creeping up to his chest over the arc reactor, gripping the smooth metal of Harry’s last gift like he has so many times before.

He cracks a smile, reminiscent of the one he gave his husband at the race track years ago. The last of his hold on reality slips, and he floats down and down and down into the abyss.

**_He falls asleep, for the very last time, and he doesn’t have to dream of green and black. Harry is standing right in front of him, and all is as it’s meant to be._ **


End file.
